A Stroke of Evil
by Jon4
Summary: Clark was never really shown in the Babylon 5 TV show - so imagine 2257-2261 through Clark's eyes? This is "the flip side" to the whole story, and a few turns will occur.


A Stroke of Evil  
  
  
Author's Note  
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Joe Michael Straczynski once commented, "There's a good reason Clark isn't shown much directly. I wanted to make President Clark more of a force... not a person. After all, that is his nature.". In this fan fiction, I wanted to reverse the tables. President Clark has a story too... I want to take my best shot at it, and make Babylon 5 the force against him. Hopefully, I will be as accurate as possible... if anything is wrong, please inform me and I will do my best to correct it.  
  
  
  
CHAPTER 1: Election Time  
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December 15th  
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The campaign was hot and the weather was cold back on Earth. Morgon Clark had been following Louis Santiago closely, the man he may soon be working for as vice president. The year was late 2256, and the 120th presidential election was upon them. There was a fairly small margian between the Santiago supporters and the Crane supporters. ISN continued their ongoing coverage of the pre-polls, updating the percentages every 15 minutes. Clark sat in his chair, watching with the rest of the world.  
  
"After a stunning rush of Santiago votes early in the day," the friendly anchorwoman with a large smile and a trusting voice reported, "Marie Crane began slowly climbing her way back towards the center, now at an even 50/50. The polls will be open for another half an hour," she continued, "Until the polls close at 8:00 Earth Standard Time. Two hours later, Louis Santiago and Marie Crane will begin their debate, which could crucially make or break next week's election. We'll be right back with more after this."  
  
"Off." The TV went blank with a small beep as Senator Clark got out of his chair and into his bedroom. He had a seat behind Louis at 10:00, where he'd watch the debate run back and forth. Morgon walked to his closet and picked out his usual dull, navy blue suit. Checking the clock above his bed, he read 7:37 EST. The polls were nearly closed. It would be a lie for him to say that he was not nervous. He stared into the mirror, straightening his tie, remembering his meeting at midnight. Psi Corps decided he must meet a Mr. Morden right away. It honestly did not interest him, but Psi Corps held a good, chunky folder of blackmail about his past. A past which was to be forgotten. He finally took a quick breath and walked out the door. The clock read 7:40 EST behind him.  
  
8:05 PM  
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Morgon was now sitting next to Louis in their usual hang out; the small restaurant where everyone happened to know who they were. Everyone's attention was turned towards the television engraved in the wall, set on ISN. The same woman from half an hour again was still speaking.  
  
"The polls have closed and the results are being counted over," she informed. "'The computers will finish in around 10 minutes, just to be safe,' said Richard Donn who is in charge of tallying the votes. As for ISN, you certainly have our vote, Mr. Santiago. We'll be right back with the results of the election after a break."  
  
The restaurant gave a roar of applause and patted Louis on the back as the television's sound was dimmed during commercials. He smiled, a little flustered at all the stress he was getting lately. He still remembered when he first went to the restaurant years ago, and no one knew his name. Now he couldn't walk down the street without someone stopping him.  
  
"Looks like we've got this one in the bag," Morgon commented. "All you need is a smooth debate and we're in."  
  
Santiago gave a rather distressed look. "It's only the pre-votes," he commented. "And if we lose it, then I'm gonna have to give one hell of a good speech. Otherwise it'll be my second loss in a row."  
  
Clark gave a little chuckle. "Don't worry about it... you've got me with you this time."  
  
"What, you have some plans of your own to keep the world in line?"  
  
"Yeah... something like that." Louis arched his eyebrows for a second before his attention was turned back to fans hanging around the restaurant. The miniature interview continued for another nine minutes before one man near the Tv called out that ISN was back. The volume was turned back up to full blast and everyone quited down in a hurry. There was a dead silence from the people as the theme played. Again, the woman was on the air.  
  
"Welcome back. Mr. Donn has officially completed the tallying, and after billions of votes, our results are in. Pre-voting is over and the post debate will be held shortly, but in the meantime, let's take a peak at who won, shall we?" The woman gave a hearty laugh as people shifted around in their seats, anxiously. They witnessed her flipping a page.  
  
"With a margin of 52% to 48%, the official pre-vote winner of the 2256 election is... Louis Santiago!" The restaurant's roof almost blew off from such a huge rush of applaude and shouting. Santiago and Clark quickly ran out, waving and smiling, before they drowned in a sea of fans.  
  
  
9:35 PM  
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Clark had arrived in Geniva half an hour ago and was still making his way through the building. "You'd think that after so long they'd invent teleporting..." He noticed a couple of handwritten signs pointing to the debate room. Apperantly a few people were following it, so he decided to go along with them.  
  
The hallways were long and a dull grey. They had no decorations or pictures on the walls; they simply provided a way to get from room to room. The twists and turns grew longer and longer, until Morgon began questioning where these signs were leading. There was still one man following them, and Clark could see he was obviously a member of the debate. He caught a glimpse of the pin on the front of his suit, which clearly stated he belonged to the debate staff. Morgon's watch read 9:45, and if he wasn't there in the next five minutes there would be some big trouble. Finally, the other mans' footsteps ended as he turned left. Morgon reached the end, and began to speak.  
  
"You have no idea how worried I--" But his sentence was cut off to the sound of a PPG blast fired directly into his hand. The shock caused him to pass out instantly, as the man in the suit dragged him back the way they came from. He had lead Clark to a dead end.  
  
***  
  
So, what do you guys think of it so far? That was only around half of chapter 1, but I'm working hard on it. Reviews would be appreciated; and yes, the election will be over at the end of this chapter. 


End file.
